Miniter: The Gun Tech That Could Present Another Ferguson

I read Frank Miniter’s brilliant The Future of the Gun on the way back from Gunsite Academy in Arizona this past Sunday. Reading such a book after spending five days and 40+ hours dedicated to becoming a “student of the gun” provided an interesting perspective.

The Future Of the Gun provided a stunning look in the history of firearms in this nation, and their current state as technology, in culture, and in law. Miniter also provided a glimpse into the future of firearms (which I sincerely hope goes beyond the much-maligned Remington R51 on the cover). The book vividly explains that our United States is intractably tied to firearms, and that for the Republic (and freedom) to endure, firearms must remain a vital part of our culture. I highly recommend it.

The history of the gun in the United States has been one of revolutionary private change, with civilian imagination and technology almost always outstripping the government’s adoption of these same arms by the military.

It is particularly amusing to hear gun control advocates to claim that “civilians don’t need access to ‘weapons of war,'” when the history of weapons development in this nation is that of our military adopting firearms first developed by and for civilians, with the military often adopting firearms technologies long after they were widespread among the general civilian population.

One of the countless firearms-related technologies being developed by the free market is a system that Miniter thinks could help prevent another “Ferguson.”